Dodo Psych

DOES PSYCHOTHERAPY REALLY WORK? [Excepts].

U. S. News and World Report (May 23, 2005) ran a lead article titled "Does Therapy Work? The growing controversy." Please note that the subtitle is "The growing controversy." The issue regarding the efficacy of psychotherapy is far from settled. However, people are quick to point to the following quote from Michael Lambert and Allen Bergin in the article:

"There is now little doubt that psychological treatments are, overall and in general, beneficial, although it remains equally true that not everyone benefits to a satisfactory degree."

True, the above quote was in the article. But, so was the following statement:

"Yet with only few exceptions, scientists have failed, in study after study, to demonstrate the superiority of any major therapeutic school, a phenomenon psychologist Lester Luborsky and his colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania compare with the dodo bird's pronouncement in 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland': 'Everyone has won and all must have prizes' " (http://www.pamweb.org/psychwork.html).